You're stuck in a deadlock with developers and designers on game mechanics. How do you find common ground?

Facilitate an open, respectful discussion to understand each side's perspectives and concerns. Identify shared goals and the core objectives of the game to align everyone's efforts. Use data and player feedback to provide an objective basis for decision-making. Encourage brainstorming sessions to explore alternative solutions that satisfy both parties. Consider prototyping and testing different approaches to see what works best in practice. Emphasize collaboration and compromise, focusing on the game's overall success. Document agreed-upon decisions and maintain clear communication throughout the process.

First, identify the core issues. Determine the main points and the reasons behind the disagreements. Encourage each team to explain the reasoning behind their suggestions. Focus on understanding the root cause.

If you have in your team "designers" that can't code fire them right away. Designers that can't code need an extra translation layer from what's in their mind and the final product, they can't see the space of possibility and they can't quickly iterate. The question does not make sense in normal teams designers are developers.

First, share that this opposition stems from a common goal, a desire to develop the game better. This common and positive denominator will be the first step in the next solution production process. Instead of focusing on what causes the parties to progress, thoughts can be shared to find solutions together. Focus on what works best and examine published games that you think may have experienced similar problems. Sharing should continue to be about the development of different ideas of the teams and focusing on the solution.

I would recommend starting first with a general task list for both designers and programmers. With the high key elements of each part. So that they understand more there key focus and the convenient of each part. It will make the agreement of both sides and the teamwork better with the time. Remember, simple solutions high impact.

I think this is the most important thing to do. Developers mostly have quantifiable criteria as their argument such as complexity, maintainability, man hour, performance, etc. While designers usually have unquantifiable things like player experience, immersiveness, reward/punishment, fun factor, etc. Testing to your immediate market via alpha / closed beta testing is a good way to gather feedback about these unquantifiable criteria. Developers generally frown upon feature / mechanics creep since it will make development longer. But if the designers can show that it is worth it from the feedbacks, then they will succumb. Furthermore, it may reveal some bugs or defects that are not immediately recognized at development.

My teacher used to tell the class every day, "Its not about winning, Its about Fun." Therefore the most "fun" solution in case of Game Development and Design Goals is to just prototype with primitive placeholder objects and make both teams play their own handmade product. If the prototype experience isn't fun, adding details with content on top, isn't going to miraculously change the UX. If there is even a single prototype iteration to work with, the designers can design around the shortcomings and take that forward. A classic example of this, is always Titanfall 2's wall running, which was a "prototype block", and later became the core mechanic of the game, because it was so "fun" to play, for everyone.

Emphasizing flexibility and the iterative nature of game development encourages your team to stay open to change and innovation. This mindset allows for the integration of feedback and experimentation, leading to creative solutions that meet both design and technical expectations.